A memorial service will be held Thursday evening for Thom Hickling, 51, an off-beat but influential evangelical media personality who died Dec. 27 in a car crash in Zambia.

Mr. Hickling's remains were cremated in Zambia, but it will take weeks to return his ashes due to international paperwork, said his mother, Dolores Hickling of Crafton. An autopsy showed that Mr. Hickling died of an injury to the back of the head, received in a collision when he tried to pass another vehicle on a treacherous road. He also had three broken ribs and minor injury to his knees, she said.

His daughter Holly, 23, a relief worker in a refugee camp in Zambia, suffered a broken leg in the accident. She returned home Friday, was examined at UPMC Presbyterian, and was released the same day, according to a memorial Web site, www.thomhickling.com.

Visitation will be in the Family Life Center of the Hillside Christian Community in Carnegie tomorrow from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. The memorial service will be in that church Thursday at 7 p.m.

A fund has been established to pay for death-related expenses and to benefit his four children, who also include David, a student at Robert Morris University, Ben, a student at the University of Pittsburgh and Jeana, a senior at Carlynton High School. Contributions can be sent to Hickling Memorial Fund, c/o Hillside Christian Community, 1050 Campbells Run Road, Carnegie 15106.